Yelp is a social media tool that allows customers to review businesses on many factors and then also write their own comments. Studies show that consumers research products and businesses online before going to purchase or choosing a venue, using Yelp as a free platform to make your business accessible in addition to your website is a great way to bring people through the door.
Yelp uses filters to put up reviews that accurately portray each individual business according to what the customers have to say, which means it can help or hinder your business depending on what kind of service you provide. Yelp is also another outlet for your business to have a presence online in addition to any other web pages you may already have.
Getting Started- Add Content
Yelp is the biggest social review site online, which can create a lot of exposure for your business and be a tool to connect with your customer base. Making sure your Yelp business profile is up to date and accurate is the first step to making Yelp another tool in your business’s pocket. Putting the most current contact information, description, hours, and a note to your potential customers shows you are involved with your customer base and opens the dialogue for them to give feedback.
Businesses on Yelp can have photo galleries of pictures they put up, as well as pictures their customers put up. Making sure you have a few good images that convey the best aspects of your work is a way to quickly show people your products.
See What Is Going On with Competition
Another great feature of Yelp is the opportunity to see what is being said about your competition in comparison with what is being said about your own business. Knowing where they are lacking, or doing better compared to your business is a tool and can help you to better meet customer needs. From a business’s Yelp page you can get a feel for their customer base, how they meet customer expectations, what their website looks like, what level of interaction they have with their customers, and how you can do better.
The Reviews!
Reviews are what make Yelp run. Subtly encouraging your customers to leave reviews (hopefully all positive) can be really beneficial. Many businesses put up a Yelp sticker in their establishment so people think to leave a review. Another great way to get involvement on your Yelp page is to offer some type of discount for ‘checking in’, the promotion doesn’t have to be large, but letting your customers know you value them is always a good thing.
Not all people who visit your business will have something positive to say, you can’t please all of the people all the time. All reviews submitted to Yelp go through a filtering process with the goal being an honest portrayal of your business. You cannot take down bad reviews, and the filter is fairly good at detecting fake reviews and not publishing them. With any feedback received on your Yelp page, good or bad, you have the option to reply to the review and open the dialogue further. This can be a double edged sword though, offering a solution to their problems could potentially be an easy fix to an easy problem but treading too far and talking too much with dissatisfied customers could end up making the situation worse.
Another Virtual Outpost
Yelp is a great outpost for your business to have more presence online. You may already have a website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Yelp can be another way to boost your business. Yelp is filled with links, which can help boost you in search rankings, and can boost your primary website as well. Linking to your Yelp page (if reviews are good) can help traffic between your websites.
All in all Yelp is another tool that can help your business gain customers and should not be forgotten. All this information and more can be found on the Yelp Business Page. Keeping dialogue going with customers can be very beneficial and honest. If you are doing a good job Yelp is an easy way to let people researching your services know what you offer and why they should choose you over the other guys.